WooCommerce vs Shopify: How are they Different?

Difference between WooCommerce vs Shopify: 

1:Woocommerce vs Shopify: Popularity (shopify) 

Shopify: 

Although both sites have gained equal popularity among users with their accessible features, Shopify is more popular than WooCommerce.Shopify has about 26.2% of the total ecommerce platform market share and about 4.65 million websites, which shows its popularity among users.

WooCommerce: 

This ecommerce platform gained popularity, with a 20.1% market share and more than 3.5 million websites.

2:Woocommerce vs Shopify: Cost (Woocommerce free) 

Shopify: 

Shopify is a paid ecommerce platform whose plan starts as low as $9 per month but can increase to $39/month. If you want to choose an annual bill, then the price starts at $29.This platform offers a 3-day trial option to its users. Furthermore, they accept annual payments for subscription plans. These plans come with SSL and web hosting, but if you want to attain a domain name without any brand name, you will need to pay $10 to $15 per year. In addition to this, the entry packages include an offer of unlimited products and storage space. Always keep in mind that they also offer scale for transaction fees.

WooCommerce: 

The point that gives WooCommerce an edge over Shopify is that it is free of cost. But keep in mind that this cost-free offer is for initial services. If you want to get additional services such as SSL certificates, domain names, and others, then you will be charged a fee according to their criteria or fee structure. Hosting fees vary between $5 and $30, and SSL certificates may cost from free to $100 per year. Now, if we compare WooCommerce vs Shopify in terms of cost for different factors, then WooCommerce is a winner as it offers a cost-effective solution to the users.

3:Woocommerce vs Shopify: Usage Difficulty (shopify more user-friendly) 

Shopify: 

Shopify is the best ecommerce platform with an accessible interface and features. This e-commerce platform guides the user through each step and helps them build a working website.The user can easily navigate the dashboard and add new products to its list. Furthermore, the user is facilitated with a complete advice guide about how to complete the website-building process. 

WooCommerce: 

WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin, and after installing it, users can see different options, like adding products and orders on the dashboard. This is also easy to use, but as it is a plugin to manage it, more knowledge of WordPress is required. Furthermore, WooCommerce is not a subscription-based platform, so the user may need to integrate it before starting. So, if you have less knowledge of plugins, then you should not go for WooCommerce.

4:Woocommerce vs Shopify: Support (shopify)

The support of ecommerce solutions helps a lot in making a website successful. So, the type of support an ecommerce platform offers the users matters a lot. 

Shopify: 

Shopify, as compared to WooCommerce, offers extensive technical support to its users. 24/7 customer support by experts through emails, live chats and phones makes it easy for clients to contact them whenever they need. These experts instantly respond to customer’s queries and provide a fixed solution to their problems. 

WooCommerce: 

WooCommerce is an open platform that doesn’t have any official support system like Shopify. The official site offers a lot of helpful resources such as tutorials, blogs, and videos that cover aspects to understand WooCommerce completely. But you can’t get a solution to your ever-logged problem from their support team. 

5:Woocommerce vs Shopify: Theme and customization (Woocommerce)

Shopify: 

Shopify allows users to access over 70 free themes and many paid themes after signing up for an account. These limited theme options are polished with an editor and liquid code for easy customization. Furthermore, Shopify also has an extensive library with add-ons for almost every function of Shopify, of which some are free to use and some are paid. 

WooCommerce:

On the other hand, WooCommerce offers great customization with a lot of themes and designs for customers. They help users to create an ideal store according to their own choice. But keep in mind that it will need your time and money for development. In addition to this, WooCommerce also comes with a great library of extensions and plugins. WooCommerce offers higher customizability than Shopify. So, for users who want more themes for a creative look and more control on your website, it is wise to go with WooCommerce. 

6:Woocommerce vs Shopify: Drop shipping (Woocommerce)

In drop shipping, instead of keeping the products in stock at the ecommerce store, the customer’s order is purchased from vendors and then shipped to the customer directly through suppliers. WooCommerce is considered the popular option for drop shipping due to the flexible drop shipping plugins.

Shopify: 

Shopify offers integrated apps for shipping your goods, but before building a drop shipping website, you will need to consider some factors. These vendors’ membership fees, delivery fees, and other charges will vary. Furthermore, you will also be limited to Shopify plugins. 

WooCommerce: 

WooCommerce offers hundreds of options for businesses to decide what they want. Furthermore, the vendor can choose extensions to fill orders on their website and import products. This ecommerce site also offers per-item delivery if they want rather than a monthly subscription for their deliveries. WooCommerce is the best delivery solution for small businesses and others as well. However, you must also remember that your suppliers may also have minimum order requirements, charges and membership fees. 

7:WooCommerce vs Shopify: SEO (WooCommerce)

Obviously, it is the dream of every website’s owner to rank its website on Google search engine result pages for more visibility and to reach the targeted audience. So, if you want this, you will also need to consider the SEO planning for your website.  

Shopify: 

Shopify helps customers to improve the SEO of their website with built-in SEO plugins. These plugins help in SEO practice. Furthermore, Shopify offers fast loading, which adds a plus point to Google’s ranking. 

WooCommerce: 

As compared to Shopify, WooCommerce offers more options for SEO ranking due to its integration with WordPress. The users can get amazing SEO tools for Meta descriptions, URLs, and other on-page elements. So WooCommerce is the best option to rank your website on Google rather than Shopify.

8:WooCommerce vs Shopify: Security (WooCommerce)

For the security of your online store, it is crucial to look at what type of security your ecommerce platform is offering. Although both platforms have good security features for online stores, in a comparison of the security of WooCommerce vs Shopify, you will be amazed to know that WooCommerce offers better security plans than Shopify, which adds a plus point to its popularity.  

Shopify: 

Shopify offers a good level of security to clients. However, it does not allow users to upgrade the security standards by their own hosting choice. 

WooCommerce: 

While on WooCommerce ecommerce platforms, users are allowed to use various plugins such as Sucuri Security, Wordfence and others to add additional security layers for their online stores. 

Bottom Line: 

In conclusion, choosing the right ecommerce platforms is a suitable decision if you want a smooth transition in the ecommerce store. However, the selection of the right platform depends upon your business requirements and goals. In the comparison of WooCommerce vs Shopify, Shopify comes with easy-to-use features and apps. It is an all-in-one platform for users with excellent technical support from the experts. On the other hand, WooCommerce is the right option for those who want an affordable SEO solution for their website.